The Relationship Termination
by marcelb
Summary: Penny is unhappy in her relationship, unable to return the love she knows her boyfriend has for her. She knows it's best to break it off, but doing that to a loving, kind boyfriend is not easy to do. Penny-centric one-shot.


**A/N: A while back, when Test Result Inversion was first putting up a fight,** ** **I started this story**. I never quite finished it, even if most of what you're about to read, was actually written in one morning.**

 **Anyway, this story is not canon. Well, the players are the same, but they're behaving a bit different. It deals with ending a relationship and, in this case at least, that leads to someone being really upset and using somewhat stronger language. I chose the M-rating, just to be safe, even though T would've probably be fine. It's told from Penny's perspective.**

* * *

Penny sat in her car, cell phone in her hands, message app opened and her boyfriend's contact selected. She always messaged him when she was on her way home, but tonight she hesitated. She really wanted some more time to herself, think about the whole situation. If she messaged him now, he'd be expecting her within fifteen minutes. With a muttered _ugh_ she put down her phone and sat back in her seat. She needed time to think, and the Cheesecake Factory's parking lot was as good a spot as any.

Leaning back into the car seat, she briefly closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. It calmed her and allowed her to think more clearly, rationally, about the situation she was in. A situation she had no one to blame for but herself. She had always known, even four years ago when they first started dating, that she didn't feel the same way about him as he did about her. Penny couldn't deny that there had been some physical attraction, and she had always enjoyed their physical encounters, but really that was all this was as far as she was concerned. More like friends with benefits than anything even remotely comparable to an emotional bond.

Yet, she had stayed with him, pretending everything was great, that she loved him. Her longest run in an acting gig, all because she was afraid. Afraid to live on her own or, more specifically, afraid she wouldn't be _able_ to live on her own. The Cheesecake Factory job wasn't a very well paying one, and because she was kinda bad at it, she didn't get a lot of tips either to augment her income. And there was virtually no income from her acting aspirations. Combining all that with her love for shoes, and Penny was sure she would run out of money within a month.

Basically, her boyfriend was the one paying for a lot of things, and she felt guilty for simply accepting his financial support without so much as acknowledging his kindness. But she felt far more guilty over other things. Like the time she had asked one of her girlfriends to seduce him. In Penny's opinion guys just couldn't resist the lure of another attractive woman coming on to them, offering themselves to them. And Penny had deliberately picked the one friend who'd frequently shown interest in her boyfriend. Penny had even helped with selecting the outfit, the sluttiest she'd been able to find in her friend's closet.

But her boyfriend had, gently, declined the offer, even when her friend repeatedly had rubbed herself against him. Of course she should have known; never in the years she had known him had he so much as shown an interest in any woman but her. She had felt bad afterward for putting him in such an uncomfortable situation, and really she had no idea why she had thought that was a good idea. It wasn't like she had wanted to split up, though maybe unconsciously she had thought an indiscretion on his part might have forced her to take the leap.

Or perhaps it was because she had met someone who had actually made her feel butterflies swarming around in her belly. She'd been unreasonably relieved when she found out he was still single. If her boyfriend had shown an interest in her friend, Penny might have been able to rationalize her flirtatious behavior toward the customer. It didn't matter she was always a bit flirt-y with the male customers, but for all but one, that was purely to get a slightly better tip out of them.

Penny exhaled loudly, finally making the decision: she was going to break her boyfriend's heart. Tonight. There was no sense in postponing it, continuing this sham of a relationship. She grabbed her phone and messaged him she was on her way and they would need to talk once she got there. His sweet reply, ending with a few x's and o's, almost made her cry, knowing he was going to be really hurt. He didn't deserve that, but in the end, it would be better for him as well. It would free him to find someone who cared as deeply about him as he did about whoever he would find.

Penny turned the key, feeling much calmer than she had these past few weeks. It was the right decision, she realized, surprised that she didn't feel any fear at the prospect of having to live by herself. She was older now, she had made some friends and she should be able to figure out how much money she was free to use for non-essential things. And once she was all settled in, she was going to ask the cute customer out on a date.

The calm and confident feeling lasted right up until she parked her car in front of the apartment building she would soon be leaving. For a fleeting moment she was scared of her boyfriend's possible reaction, but after a few seconds she dismissed the thought. For as long as she had known him, he hadn't even picked a fight with anyone. That just wasn't in his character.

Still, the nervousness wouldn't quite go away and for a few seconds she hesitated in front of their apartment door. His apartment door, she amended. After tonight, he would be living there alone. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked in.

"Hey, babe."

Penny smiled, unable to hide the sad underlying feeling. "Hi."

"What's wrong?"

Before Penny could answer she was enveloped in his strong arms, held tightly. Reflexively her arms wrapped around his middle. She closed her eyes and placed her head against his shoulder. Despite the decision she had reached, she had a hard time just telling him and they remained wrapped in each others embrace for several minutes.

"Penny, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

Penny took a small step back, gazing up at him. Confronted by his concerned features, Penny hesitated once again and shrugged. "Just a rough day," she - partially - lied. She sat down next to him as he motioned toward the love seat they had shared quite a few passionate make out sessions on in the past.

"You didn't get the part?"

Penny bit her lip momentarily. While it was true she hadn't gotten it, she was already feeling bad for lying to him a few seconds ago. She shook her head. "I didn't, but that's not the reason." She leaned into him automatically when his arm wrapped around her shoulder and sighed.

"Babe, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

Penny shrugged in response. They remained seated like that for what felt like hours when he broke the silence.

"Maybe a good night's sleep is all you need to feel better."

She smiled softly, knowing from the tone in his voice he wasn't planning on letting her sleep very soon. Perversely Penny found the prospect of sex with him, even just one more time, actually very welcome.

"Maybe you can tell me tomorrow morning."

"Yeah," Penny responded, standing up and grabbing his hand. Without words she led him to their bedroom, the familiarity of her actions calming her again. She could tell him tomorrow morning. That was even better, because then she had some time to find a place to sleep.

* * *

Penny had barely slept, her mind going over how she should tell him they were over. And while she couldn't deny their passionate joining had felt amazing, as always, she regretted doing it. It meant that when she would tell the man who was still spooned against her back their relationship was over, would know instantly their session last night had been about her postponing their break-up.

"Mornin', babe."

Penny smiled as he pulled her closer and put a kiss on her shoulder. The almost standard morning wake up routine, usually intended to actually wake her up. "Morning," she replied, letting him know she was indeed awake. She felt him move and prop himself up on one arm.

"You're awake?"

Penny turned to lay on her back, pulling the covers up when she noticed his eyes travel over the uncovered parts of her body. Yet another mistake that clued him in she was not okay.

"You're still troubled by something, aren't you?"

She nodded, biting her lip for a few seconds before finally blurting out what was going on. "It's over."

He moved to sit against the headboard, looking confused. "What is?"

"Us."

He frowned. "You're breaking up with me? Why? Did I do something wrong?"

Penny shook her head. "No, that's not it. I know this is so cliched, but it really isn't you, but me." She paused and watched the various emotions form on his face, until he seemed to settle on confusion once more. "I just don't love you like you love me and I can't continue to pretend this is a great relationship."

"You don't love me."

"Kurt, that's..." She paused, not wanting to hurt him even more, but feeling that lying to him was equally bad. She exhaled loudly. "Listen, I am attracted to you and I do feel affection, but I know deep down it's not a feeling of being _in_ love. And I hate to say this, but I never really felt that way."

"You're kidding, right? I mean, why would you stay with me for four years if you didn't love me?"

Penny turned to face him properly, feeling she owed him that. "Because I'm a coward. I'm afraid to live on my own and having to struggle to pay my bills. Because you wanted to move to the L.A. area to make your dreams come true, which happened to be a place where I thought I might be able to make _my_ dreams come true. But I was too scared to try it on my own."

He had flopped down on his back during her brief explanation. After a few seconds he looked in her direction again. "Oh my God. You didn't agree to go on a date until _after_ I'd told you I was going to move here."

Penny remained silent. There really wasn't anything she could say to ease his pain, his hurt.

He laughed humorlessly. "When you screwed me, you really were screwing me."

Penny knew he was now just lashing out, trying to hurt her, probably unaware she already was hurting. Again she remained silent.

"No, it's worse," he continued after a few moments. "You screwed me for financial benefit. That would make you a..."

She slapped him, anger burning inside, though she wasn't entirely sure her anger was with Kurt or herself. "I'm not."

He actually smirked at her. "Hey, if it walks like a duck..."

"Ugh." Penny wanted nothing more than to get out of bed, but she was completely naked and she didn't want Kurt to see her like that anymore. "What happened to the nice guy?"

He sat up straight, looking at her as if she'd grown a second head. "What happened? You fucking broke up with him and told him you used him as your financial safety net. For _four_ _fucking_ years! How did you think I was going to react, huh? Did you expect me to just roll over and wish you a happy life?"

Again Penny was silent, his outburst completely warranted and true.

"Shit, Penny, I loved you more than I've loved anyone in my whole life. I would do anything for you, have done anything for you." He flopped back down, to softly add. "And God help me, I _still_ love you."

They both remained silent for a few minutes, Penny just not knowing what to say or do right now. Eventually, Kurt got out of bed with a loud sigh. "I'm taking a shower."

Penny winced as he more or less slammed the bathroom door behind him, but she remained in the bed. After fifteen minutes or so, Kurt stepped out and put on his clothes without saying a word, not once looking at her. He didn't until he reached the bedroom door. "I'll be out for the day. When I get back, I want you gone."

Penny winced again a few seconds later when the apartment door was slammed shut. Penny lay still in bed, waiting for him to get in his car and drive off. After a minute she frowned; she'd heard the car door close, but no other sound after that. Holding the covers against her body, she went to the window, and found Kurt sitting in his car, obviously crying. She closed her eyes and whispered, "I'm so sorry." She remained standing by the window for a few minutes, until Kurt seemed to have gathered himself and started the car and drove off.

Slowly she made her way to the bathroom. She really had misjudged just how much it would hurt _her_ to break up with the man she had lived with for four years. It wasn't like her life in this apartment with Kurt had been bad, in any way. He'd never hurt her, and they rarely had argued. All of their friends had one point or other expressed their envy of the relationship she and Kurt had had. And on the surface, the two of them had been a great couple. Except for the lack of actually being in love from her side.

She sighed, not knowing how long she'd been under the water, but she had a feeling it had been quite a while. She quickly completed her midway abandoned shower and turned off the water, allowing the cool air to pass over her for a couple of seconds before she reached for the towel. She'd never wanted to hurt Kurt, but there was also no denying that this break-up was what was best for the both of them, even if he didn't see it that way right now.

As she toweled herself, she caught her reflection in the mirror, causing her to pause her actions and really look at herself. It was odd to see her own face with a mixture of relief and sadness reflected back. Had she had that expression when she'd finally told Kurt they were over? Had he seen her conflicted emotional state, or had he simply focused on his pain?

She stared for a few more seconds before taking a deep, cleansing breath. She couldn't help Kurt deal with his pain, and it really was time she was going to focus on herself now. She resumed her actions, actually feeling a bit better. Today, a new chapter in her life was going to start, a chapter she was fully intending to be about finding her own happiness.

* * *

 **A/N2: The working title I had for this was 'Nice Kurt,' but I wanted to see how far I could get without making that too obvious. When I read it, just before posting, I felt it was quite obvious pretty early on, but maybe that's because I knew where it was going.  
**


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